The Sporting Life

Detroit is a sports town. It's a city with passionate fans and remarkable teams. It's also a place that resounds with the cheers of countless victories. That's because Detroit is the "City of Champions" and for sports fans, a great place to be.

Detroit earned its championship nickname in the 1930s. During this decade, the Tigers, Lions and Red Wings all won titles. Detroit boxing great Joe Louis captured the Heavyweight title and held it for 11 years. And Eddie Tolan, a black student from Cass Technical High School, won two gold medals at the 1932 Olympics.

Since then, the winners kept coming. The Detroit Lions won the championship in 1952, 1953 and 1957. Local great Thomas Hearns won seven boxing championships. More recently, the Detroit Red Wings (1997-98) and Detroit Pistons (1989-90) each celebrated back-to-back victories, and came back to win championship titles again in 2002 and 2004 respectively. In women's sports, the Detroit Shock of the WNBA won the championship in 2003.

Beyond championship teams, this city also hosts championship events. This includes World Cup Soccer, the MLB All-Star Game, Super Bowl XL, the Motorcity Bowl, the Buick Open and the Ryder Cup. With great events, great teams and especially, great championships, Detroit has great bragging rights, and can easily brag that this is, indeed, a City of Champions.